Abstract The spatio-temporal variability of the chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration in the East Sea (Japan Sea) (EJS) was investigated using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data over 13 years from 2003 to 2015 to understand the impact of physical environmental changes on low-trophic level marine ecosystems. The chl-a images were composited to produce gridded monthly chl-a images

Abstract Short-term biological responses to sea surface wind field over mesoscale eddies were investigated using hourly ocean color chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration data from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI), scatterometer wind data, and satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data. Four warm eddies were identified from SST fronts, by subjectively fitting ellipses to selected points,

Abstract Knowledge of exchange flow and its variations is important, because it determines the distribution of salt, nutrient, pollutant, and suspended sediment in estuaries. Although exchange flow has been studied extensively, their variations over the spring–neap tidal cycle remain unclear. Many studies have indicated that the exchange flow is weaker during spring tides than neap tides, but others

Abstract The aim of this study was to assess the temporal variability in the trophic structure of a fish community and the trophic levels of dominant fish species off the eastern coast of Korea. We analyzed the community composition and the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) for fish species in Hupo coastal waters over four seasons. Fish assemblages were mainly dominated by resident

Abstract We investigated bacterial production (BP) and respiration (BR), in combination with phytoplankton and environmental parameters, to elucidate major carbon sources regulating heterotrophic bacterial metabolic activity and to evaluate variations of trophic balance associated with seawater warming in Gyeonggi Bay (GB). BP was not significantly correlated with primary production (PP, p > 0.05)

Abstract Coastal water temperature anomalies are expected to intensify during the current period of global climate change. Sudden water temperature elevation (e.g., heat waves) or decrease (e.g., summer upwelling) can have a far-reaching influence on seagrasses in temperate regions. We examined the influence of anomalously elevated and decreased water temperatures on the growth of Zostera marina plants

Abstract Increasing sea surface temperature due to global climate change is a major threat to the growth and survival of many temperate seagrasses, while cold-water upwelling can potentially ameliorate high-temperature stress on temperate seagrass meadows during growing seasons. Seagrasses in the coasts of Korea are increasingly influenced by rising water temperatures and water temperature anomalies

Abstract Tidal forcing is an important regulator of short-term variation in water properties and phytoplankton dynamics in estuaries. Tidal interactions with regulated freshwater discharge into estuaries that are affected by engineered structures such as sea embankments remain poorly understood. We examined tidal variations in the macrotidal (3–6 m) Yeongsan River estuary of South Korea, which receives

Abstract Seasonal variations in the condition, biochemical composition, and reproduction of Ruditapes philippinarum were investigated from August 2009 to October 2010, 18 months after the Hebei Spirit oil spill off Malipo Beach on the west coast of Korea. No significant differences in physical and nutritional conditions were found between the oil-damaged and the undamaged control beaches. At the undamaged

Abstract Residence time is an important parameter for evaluating the physical and biochemical characteristics of estuaries and bays. The residence times of two neighboring South Korean bays with contrasting topographies, Gwangyang Bay and Jinju Bay, were calculated for winter and summer using a three-dimensional model. Gwangyang Bay, with considerable industrial development nearby, has a relatively

Abstract Spatiotemporal patterns in the basal resources fueling the macrobenthic food web of a temperate coastal embayment subject to a low-turbidity riverine discharge (Gwangyang Bay, Korea) were evaluated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. This study examined trophic links of macrobenthic food web with primary production in diverse wetland habitats along the riverine–estuarine–coastal marine

Abstract Hypoxia has occurred worldwide in coastal and marginal oceans. The redox condition has recently garnered major interest as a favorable condition for delivering sedimentary organic matter to the water column. In this study, we measured the fluorescence of fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) in brackish Lake Shihwa, Korea, in which hypoxic conditions are typically observed during summer

Abstract To evaluate the modification of carbon flow in estuarine systems by a dike construction, we compared the trophic structures of the macrobenthic food webs in two contrasting estuaries, one with and one without a dike, on the western and southern coasts of Korea, by measuring the δ13C and δ15N values of subtidal macrobenthic consumers. The isotopic values of most organic matter sources were

Abstract In order to determine the origins of dissolved inorganic nutrients and dissolved organic matter in coastal waters off Jeju Island, Korea, we measured the concentrations of 222Rn, nutrients, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), and dissolved organic carbon in coastal waters during September 2016 and October 2017. The lower salinity waters occurring in the southern coastal waters off

Abstract Sexual reproduction in corals is pivotal for the survival of populations in the face of climate change. Off Jeju Island, which lies off the south coast of Korea, a high-latitude scleractinian coral, Alveopora japonica, has experienced a population explosion over the past couple of decades (at 5–15 m depths). A second species, Oulastrea crispata, which is generally present at high latitudes

Abstract Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) and benthic nutrient fluxes were measured at five sites using an in situ benthic chamber: fish farm (FF), oyster farm (OF), Tongyeong Marine Science Station (TMSS), and two controls (FF-C and OF-C) June 27–July 1, 2017, to assess the impact of aquaculture on coastal waters of southern Korea. The net oxygen production rate of the epiphyte community attached to farming

Abstract Assessing the biomass and productivity of fin- and shellfish supported by coastal ecosystems is important to develop plans for the conservation and restoration of these ecosystems, but such assessments are not easy to obtain. We developed a protocol that, from density data, quantifies biomass at recruitment for species where information exists to derive life history tables, and productivity

Abstract Hurricanes are important ecological disturbances that maintain biodiversity. We investigated the short-term impacts of Hurricane Irma, a category 4 storm that passed through south Florida on September 10, 2017, on fish and macroinvertebrate communities of western and north-central Florida Bay, FL, USA. Spatiotemporal trends in physical water conditions (temperature, salinity, water depth,

Abstract Sediment resuspension may play a major role in sediment-water exchange of nutrients, matter and energy in coastal areas where waves and currents dominate sediment transport. Biogeochemical sediment properties regulate sediment erodibility, but there is only limited knowledge of how temporal variability in environmental variables is reflected in the resuspension potential, especially for subtidal

Abstract Although crabs are effective indicator species for evaluating the health of estuarine environments, the relationship between crab communities and environmental conditions in temperate river estuaries is poorly investigated. This study aimed to clarify the physicochemical factors that affect crab fauna in temperate areas, as well as classify and characterize habitat based on the similarity

Abstract Links between hydrologic modifications, flow and salinity regimes, and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) species composition and abundance were assessed with an empirical analysis of 33 years of monitoring data collected at nine sites in Florida’s Caloosahatchee River Estuary (CRE). Freshwater inflows to the estuary (30-day means) were often outside the previously recommended envelope of

Abstract What limits secondary production in the estuaries of snowmelt-dominated basins? Due to substantial differences in their annual hydrographs, zooplankton dynamics in these estuaries are expected to differ from better-studied pluvial systems. We hypothesized that water residence time limited zooplankton production in the undammed, snowmelt-dominated estuary of the Fraser River, Canada. We sampled

Abstract Understanding food pathways in estuarine communities is essential to improve our ability to cope with the increasing effects of man-made activities and climate variability on the biodiversity of coastal systems. Herein, we analyzed carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of food web components in a large tropical bay in the southwestern Atlantic, in order to investigate spatial and temporal changes

Abstract The shallow, turbid water of the Delaware Bay Estuary is the second most navigated waterway in the USA behind the Mississippi River and experiences tropical and extratropical cyclones from June through April bringing high winds, storm surge, precipitation, and coastal change. Mapping coastal areas within the Delaware Bay is particularly difficult due to inherent environmental factors such

Abstract Understanding the implications of environmental disturbance is of growing importance as climate change and extreme weather events increasingly threaten estuaries and other coastal ecosystems. Among species at risk in estuarine habitats, sport fishes are of particular interest to conservation and management agencies, because of their ecological and economic value. Here, we evaluate the effects

Abstract In response to current threats to salt marshes, there are increasing efforts to restore these vital coastal ecosystems and promote their resilience to global change drivers. Unfortunately, the economic cost associated with assessing the effectiveness of restoration is prohibitive and more information is needed about the trajectory and timing of restoration outcomes to improve restoration practices

Abstract The Hudson Bay system is undergoing climate-driven changes in sea ice and freshwater inflow and has seen an increase in winter river inflow since the 1960s due in part to flow regulation for hydropower production. Southeast Hudson Bay and adjacent James Bay are at the forefront of these changes, with more than 1-month shortening of the season of sea ice cover as defined using satellite data

Abstract Ocean acidification is thought to benefit seagrasses because of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) availability for photosynthesis. However, in order to truly assess ecological responses, effects of ocean acidification need to be investigated in a variety of coastal environments. We tested the hypothesis that ocean acidification would benefit seagrasses in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the

Abstract Seagrass meadows in far South Texas are dominated by turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum), and juvenile pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) are abundant grazers of seagrass epifauna. As they grow, pinfish exhibit an ontogenetic dietary shift and begin consuming increasing amounts of plant material. In this study, contrasting environmental regimes in two seagrass meadows were examined to identify how

Abstract Aspects of phytoplankton community structure (e.g., taxonomic composition, biomass) and function (e.g., light adaptation, net oxygen production, exudation) can be inferred with a binning method that uses water transparency (Secchi depth), dissolved inorganic nitrogen, and ortho-phosphate to classify phytoplankton habitat conditions in the surface mixed layer. The method creates six habitat

Abstract Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout US coastal waters since the late 1970s, primarily to enhance fisheries. Although numerous studies have examined their effects on fish communities, few have examined interactions between artificial reefs and primary producers or their effects on biogeochemistry of the surrounding water column. Understanding how reefs may alter biogeochemistry and

Abstract Coastal freshwater and brackish wetlands are exposed to pulses of saltwater during times of reduced freshwater flows (i.e., dry seasons, droughts), periodic storm surges, and increased tidal extent associated with rising seas. The effects of saltwater pulses on belowground processing rates of detrital organic matter as mediated by microbial activities are uncertain. Our objectives were to

Abstract Berrylium-7 elucidates sediment dynamics (i.e., sources, sinks, deposition, and resuspension) in a Connecticut estuary. Average annual atmospheric deposition of 7Be is 290 mBq cm−2 year−1. Sediment samples from 43 locations within the estuary show that 7Be deposition is spatially complex, but were statistically indistinguishable a year apart. Weekly time series of sediments indicate that levels

In the original version of the article, there was an error in the column headings on the second page of Table 7. Low OM × 100% light and Low OM × 58% light should be High OM × 100% light and High OM × 58%, respectively.

Abstract Sea-level rise will have unknown effects on the structure and function of valuable tidal freshwater floodplains. One reason for this knowledge gap is our poor constraint on the physical controls on complex floodplain inundation and circulation processes. Here, a high-resolution light detection and ranging (lidar) digital elevation model (DEM) is applied to fine-scale numerical simulations

Abstract Phytoplankton blooms in nearshore waters are difficult to predict using only biogeochemical factors known to control phytoplankton growth, yet the need to understand these events continues to grow with expanding harmful algal bloom (HAB) events. The present study investigated the spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton blooms and their drivers in King Harbor, a harbor in Santa Monica

Abstract The Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) was used to create standardized maps of habitats and biotopes by combining CMECS’s four stand-alone components: Geoform, Substrate, Biotic, and Water, based on data collected in a shallow New England salt marsh lagoon. East Harbor on Cape Cod, MA, USA, was artificially isolated from tidal flow in the late 1860s. Consequently

Abstract Extensive salt marsh restoration is expected in the northern Gulf of Mexico over the next several decades, funded in part by settlements from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Understanding the ecological benefits of restored marshes over time is integral to setting appropriate restoration targets and performance criteria and in determining the restoration area needed to achieve desired

Abstract The presence of relatively rare species in estuarine fish communities can influence niche differentiation among species, functional redundancy, and ecosystem stability when faced with environmental disturbance. In southeastern Florida, at least four species of snook (Centropomidae) occur in coastal river systems, but only one species occurs elsewhere in the state. To better understand how

Abstract Estuary ecological resilience can be gauged by response of estuary trophic state to abatement of nutrient pollution. Changes in trophic indicators were studied in the Avon-Heathcote Estuary (AHE) in Christchurch, New Zealand, over 6 years, spanning diversion of city wastewater inputs to an offshore outfall in 2010, and to temporary enrichment caused by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. It

Abstract Observations of Newark Bay, a sub-estuary network characterized by multiple junctions, reveal that fronts are generated by tidal flow through transitions in channel geometry. All fronts substantially contribute to along-channel estuarine heterogeneity, and most are associated with both changes in channel geometry and tidal velocity phase-shifts. A lift-off front forms at the mouth of the sub-estuary

Abstract Despite considerable efforts to restore coastal wetlands, the ecological mechanisms contributing to the success or failure of restoration are rarely assessed. Accumulation of hydrogen sulfide in sediments may accelerate rates of marsh loss in eutrophic estuaries and is likely driven by complex feedbacks between wetland plant growth and microbial redox reactions. We used a chronosequence of

Abstract Constructed oyster reefs (CORs) provide shore protections and habitats for fish and shellfish communities via wave energy attenuation. However, the processes and mechanism of CORs on wave attenuation remain unclear, thus limiting the effective assessment of CORs for shoreline protection. This paper presents results of a field investigation on wave characteristics and wave spectral variations

Abstract Lagoon systems are more heavily impacted by hurricanes, whereas the relevant storm surge modeling studies have been paid little attention to lagoon systems and the storm-induced exchange in lagoon systems is even less understood. To address this gap, a three-dimensional unstructured grid-based model was configured for the Maryland Coastal Bays, a typical lagoon system with two unique inlets

Abstract Periodic bathymetry surveys are essential to provide data to keep navigation charts updated, obtain insights into water body bottom dynamics and processes, and for hydrodynamic modelling. Frequent bathymetry monitoring has become particularly important in a time of climate variability, which may affect hydrodynamics in yet unknown ways. Bathymetric data are, however, often scarce, because

Abstract Estuaries are influenced by seasonal and inter-annual variability in marine and freshwater intrusion. This variability affects the abundance and distribution of resources and consumers and may drive estuarine food web dynamics. This study tests for relationships among environmental variables and estuarine consumer δ13C, and assesses whether freshwater-derived sources increase in relative contribution

Abstract Salt marshes are important sites of nitrogen cycling and removal that straddle the land/ocean interface, allowing them to intercept human-derived nitrogen before it reaches coastal waters where it causes problems like hypoxia and harmful algal blooms. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released an estimated five million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, significantly contaminating

Abstract The 2015–2016 El Niño provided insight into how low-inflow estuaries might respond to future climate regimes, including high sea levels and more intense waves. High waves and water levels coupled with low rainfall along the Southern California coastline provided the opportunity to examine how extreme ocean forcing impacts estuaries independently from fluvial events. From November 2015 to April

Abstract High-resolution satellite imaging represents a potentially effective technique to monitor cyclone-caused environmental damage and recovery over large areas at a high spatial scale. This study utilized a 10-m resolution Sentinel satellite image series to document vegetation changes in a portion of the Florida Keys, USA, over which the core of Category 4 Hurricane Irma passed on 10 September

Many studies have evaluated the impacts of hurricanes on coral communities, but far less is known about impacts, recovery, and resilience of sponge communities to these extreme events. In September 2017, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, was impacted by two Category 5 hurricanes within 2 weeks: Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Such extreme events occurring in such rapid succession are virtually unprecedented

Regional approaches to coastal wetland restoration are one of the best ways to ensure that these threatened habitats persist in the face of sea level rise. Regional approaches provide a mechanism for prioritizing restoration actions in areas where future conditions will promote maximum resiliency while still providing for an appropriate composition of plant and animal habitats across the region as

Abstract Arctic calcifiers are believed to be particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification as the Arctic already experiences low carbonate saturations states due to low temperature and high inputs of freshwater. Here, we report the finding of dense beds of Mytilus growing in tidal lagoons and river mouths, where the availability of carbonate ions is remarkably low Ωarag < 0.5. Although these Mytilus

Salinity is a limiting factor for many invertebrates, especially for Odonata which are typically associated with freshwater ecosystems. In Europe, 15 Odonata species inhabit brackish wetlands and only few detailed data on their tolerance towards salinity are available. We investigated Odonata fauna in 11 sampling stations situated in three estuarine areas (northern Adriatic coastline) which differed

Coincidental long-term changes in estuarine nekton assemblages and environmental conditions are widely reported. In this study, from a warm-temperate, high salinity, salt marsh-dominated estuary in the southeastern USA, decreases in overall abundance, shifts in species and life stage composition, and changes in seasonal patterns of occurrence coincided with increased water temperature. Biweekly trawl

Abstract To clarify the effects of crab burrows on variation in sediment CO2 flux in mangrove forest, we measured the traits of crab burrows (density and entrance area size) and the CO2 flux rate from sediment surfaces, in areas with and without burrows, in a subtropical mangrove forest on Ishigaki Island, southwestern Japan. Burrow density and entrance area showed significant differences among seasons

Geochemical signals in bivalve carbonate hold the potential to record environmental change over timescales from months to centuries; however, not all bivalves provide reliable proxy records, and modern studies are essential to calibrate these relationships prior to use in palaeo-environmental reconstruction. In this study, 19 shells of the estuarine bivalve Arthritica helmsi, from 14 sites in Southeastern

Abstract The Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area within the Mackenzie Estuary provides a critical summer habitat for the Eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). Given the lack of seabed characterization in the Mackenzie Estuary, there is a need to characterize key features and governing processes that may influence or drive beluga habitat use. Thus, we sample and describe

Abstract Mangroves store large amounts of organic carbon (C) in their soils and are important in the global C cycle. These C stocks have been attributed to the below-ground productivity of mangroves, yet there is limited knowledge about the environmental factors that influence mangrove root growth. Thus, this study aimed to assess the role of variation in soil bulk density (BD) on the early development

Abstract Juvenile American shad (Alosa sapidissima) experience a wide range of temperatures in rivers before migrating to the ocean. Temperatures in these freshwater environments can vary greatly spatially, seasonally, year-to-year, and can be impacted by anthropogenic factors such as power plant discharge or climate change. Currently, there is uncertainty concerning juvenile American shad thermal

Eutrophication is a challenge to coastal waters around the globe. In many places, nutrient reductions from land-based sources have not been sufficient to achieve desired water quality improvements. Bivalve shellfish have shown promise as an in-water strategy to complement land-based nutrient management. A local-scale production model was used to estimate oyster (Crassostrea virginica) harvest and bioextraction